


The Quiet Things

by mortaltemples



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Canon - Manga, F/M, Post-Canon, ed being a dork but a great dad because duh, extended version of a ficathon fic, featuring ed as a househusband, headcanons abound, winry and pinako dominating the automail market because duh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-16
Updated: 2013-02-16
Packaged: 2017-11-29 12:27:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/686947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mortaltemples/pseuds/mortaltemples
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He looked around the kitchen and sighed. He is getting beaten at hide-and-seek by his son. His toddler son. On the first day Winry decided to go back to the workshop for a full week. This is just embarrassing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Quiet Things

**Author's Note:**

> written for lj user rileycakes' prompt "Edward as a househusband" on hariboo's Valentine's Day romcom ficathon. 
> 
> a slightly extended version of what I posted there.
> 
> obviously I own nothing

Ed looked under the table.

  
“Damn.” He muttered under his breath. He didn’t have to try very hard to imagine Winry flinging an absurdly well-aimed wrench at his head for losing their toddler son who clearly walks far too fast to be natural and he swears, Edward _swears_ , that this trait is entirely Winry’s fault. She totally learned to walk before him and Al.

  
He looked around the kitchen and sighed. He is getting beaten at hide-and-seek by his son. His toddler son. On the first day Winry decided to go back to the workshop for a full week. This is just embarrassing.

  
_Think, Ed. If you had recently learned to walk, where would you hide?_

  
His eyes immediately darted to the pantry door. It was closed, but worth a try. He pressed his ear to the door and heard the distinct sound of heavy breathing. Yup. That’s Henry. Ed swung the pantry door open and his son gave a squeak of surprise that his cunning hiding place had been discovered. Ed grinned and picked Henry up.

  
“Gotcha!” Henry giggled and wrapped his hands around his dad’s neck as Ed kicked the door closed and moved further out into the kitchen.

  
“I don’t know if I can handle another round, kiddo. So how about we play something else?” He asked his son. Technically he had a book on the development of eastern Amestris he was supposed to be writing. _Technically_.

  
“Mommy!” Henry exclaimed excitedly. Ed’s smile dropped at that. Winry would no doubt appreciate an interruption at work even less than she would Ed losing their son – at least home lacked the machinery and sharp objects that characterise his wife’s workspace. He looked at the clock and the grin was back on his face.

  
“Wanna help me make lunch for Mommy?” He asked Henry who nodded vigorously and squirmed in his arms to be put back down on the floor. Ed complied and told his son to fetch some bread and butter.

  
Had it been suggested to Ed three years ago that he’d be married with a kid, and find playing hide-and-seek with a toddler more fun than research, he wouldn’t have laughed, but he’d have certainly been dumbstruck. Married to Winry? Well, duh. That much was obvious from about the age of five upwards. Bringing her sandwiches at work, kid in tow? Not so much. Not that he minded. He and Al’d spent their teenage years wandering the country, and later the world, and it had been high-time he took a break. He smiled as he thought of the life he and Winry had carved out for themselves in Rizembool. Sure, it was quiet, and it sucked to be so far from Al who, in a move everyone saw coming, decided to stay in Xing with the now very-much-grown-up May Chang for the time being – but it was exactly what he needed.

  
Ed lifted Henry up so he could knock on the door of Winry’s workshop. Her and Granny had to move into a larger building near the centre of the small town, a fact that never fails to make Ed swell with pride. Granny Pinako, indomitable as ever with a pipe hanging out her mouth, was the one to answer the door. Ed took great satisfaction in looking down at the ninety-plus year old woman.

  
“Hello Short Stuff.” She grinned. Ed braced himself for what was coming. “And Henry.”

  
Henry giggled in delight at his father’s face, the _traitor_. Being the mature father and husband he was, Ed simply muttered a reply of “Hag” and walked into the shop, leaving Henry who was now clutching his great-grandmother’s hand to find his wife.

  
“You two are both supposed to be at home.” Winry informed him, turning around from her workspace with a smirk. Ed reddened slightly, thinking of her telling him confidently the previous night in bed that he and Henry wouldn’t last until midday without her. Proving her right was something he’d got used to over the years, it didn’t mean he enjoyed giving her the satisfaction. He held out the bag of sandwiches he and Henry had prepared, and Winry took it with a smile and kissed him on the cheek.

  
“Yeah, well, this won’t be a regular thing. Henry just begged and _begged_ me to take him to see you.”

  
“Uh, uh! I only asked one time.” Came a reply from the other end of the room, where Henry was happily doodling next to Granny. Winry snorted.

  
“And of course your daddy gave in right away.” She said, tickling her son from behind. She picked him up and stroked his hair as he nodded vigorously. Ed rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. There was no room for denial there. His face softened as he took in the sight of his smiling wife, and his smiling son.

  
_God, I love this._ He thought. He could tell he was grinning like an idiot because Winry snorted at him.

  
“You want another kid, don’t you?” She asked him, eyes twinkling.

  
“Well, yeah.” He said. Henry clapped his hands excitedly.

  
“I want a brother!” He said.

  
“Of course you do, sweetheart.” Winry said with a pointed look at Ed. He could just tell she was thinking of how similar her boys are. He leaned over and kissed his wife properly whilst Henry acted appropriately disgusted. He heard a cackle. Probably Granny.

  
“Back to work, then.” Ed told her with a grin.

 


End file.
